To really dread weekends?

[frillonit]

Is this normal lol

two little kids (2 and 5) never know what to do with them or how to fill the time. Everywhere is busy and expensive. But if you stay home it’s awful.

Ah shame, all of mine enjoyed them as toddlers.

This age is the worst. I found it got a lot better when DS went into reception and joined football and rugby as we had something to fill both mornings.
We paid for membership to Longleat at this age. It was an absolute godsend. If we were nearer a Merlin theme park we'd have got membership there.

@frillonit - I mean just normal day to day stuff. Don’t you ever have to go to garden centre, or diy stores? Or supermarket for dinner ingredients? Or take kids shoe shopping. Or visit Ikea? Gardening at home, laundry, prepping and cooking meals. Or pop to local food market for a wander? Or just go for a walk?

I mean you can go do a walk and still make kid fun by taking scooters or bikes, stopping by park or grabbing ice cream somewhere sometimes. Actually we spend a lot of time on bikes? Do you all have bikes?

At the moment for example we are growing lots of seedlings for garden raised beds this summer. Ds had helped plant and water the last month, and the last week has been helping in garden with setting up trellising, organising shed with me, putting up some shelves in shed. Picking salads. Adding grass seed. Washing birdbath. Weeding. All is about an hour outside every afternoon if dry. Sometimes he helps, other times he’s in sandpit, mud kitchen playing ball, joining as a when. Just normal daily life that needs doing and I can’t do without him around as the only time he’s in childcare im working.

Would they enjoy going on a bus and/or train ride? Not necessarily anyway specific, just for the experience. I remember my sister's grandson saying that he had had the best day ever when she did this with him, as he was so used to going everywhere in a car, or walking.
My DD would easily spend a hour just playing with a couple of balloons. I would sit with her, and kick any balloon that came near me but it gave me time for a drink in relative peace!

@Caspianberg tbh probably not.

I am not massively into gardening but if I did go to a garden centre it would just be a big stress with them wandering in different directions and picking things up.

The nearest ikea is an hour away and I hate ikea! I don’t go to DIY stores and I tend to pop into the supermarket after work, it’s just easier. Dragging them both around a busy supermarket isn’t going to be fun for anybody.

I know you’re trying to help but it is a very, very different dynamic with two kids. They wind one another up and are silly.

They possibly would @Leeds2 although whether other passengers would is another matter 😅

When the weather is nice I don't find it to bad we usually do park and picnic. When the weather is bad we visit other people then they can annoy them instead of us

The plight of the sahm on a daily basis! It's so hard to fill the day! I feed the ducks, go for a walk to the nearest playground, take her swimming/soft play or both. Get on a train going anywhere at all, get an ice cream once there. Get her to help you make dinner; peeling carrots and potatoes etc. (Takes up loads of time)
It's so painful to keep them occupied and the reason why I can't wait to get back to work!

Funnily enough I don’t mind it so much during the week. I don’t know whether it’s because everywhere is quieter or because only have one child with me, or whether because groups etc are on. But the week is fine, it’s the weekends.

I think the weekends are particularly hard because you feel like you should be having one. I know that's how I feel.

Yes, it’s a bit of a contradiction I suppose! It’s supposed to be a rest and it’s the absolute opposite. And don’t get me started on bank holidays …

I hate being inside with my two year old so get where you’re coming from. We normally go for a walk, go to the park or maze. Then on Saturdays there’s option of library too.

We are national trust members so this weekend we’re going to our local one which has a campfire and mud kitchen for kids etc. Only £12 a month I think.

We try to get out once in morning and once in afternoon. So back home for meals.

All the paid for kids activities like softplay and play cafes etc. I find too much money to go regularly.

It is hard though and repetitive.

Walk. Get out and walk as much as possible whatever the weather. Plain picnic of sandwiches and fruit. Just tire them out and keep them out of the house so there isn’t any mess to clear up.
Also we used to go swimming most Sundays (though I accept this is getting expensive these days) - you are doing your parental duty making sure they learn to swim, plus it tires them out and gets them out of the house.

My two year old just won’t eat picnics. I know it sounds like I’m being awkward and in a way I am. I have very different children; one lags behind and one runs ahead, one would walk all day and the other is tired and wants carrying.

I guess this is the thing really; I wouldn’t choose to spend my weekends walking around!

Can you organise play dates? It’s quite nice to go to the park or National trust with another family.

Can you push the swimming to a bit later?

So it’s less of a rush in the morning/ you can get ready slowly etc, and then there’s less “rest of the day” left to fill?

Downside is that precludes any “proper” days out

I don’t really know other families who would be up for that, being totally honest. They tend to stay in the sort of family unit at weekends if that makes sense.

But totally agree these things are so much more enjoyable when you do them with another mum.

I’m sorry to sound horrible but I think when kids are little it’s a choice between different things you wouldn’t choose to be doing!

But before you had kids didn’t you realise that weekends might look a bit different and you might have to do things that you wouldn’t have chosen to do, pre kids?
Tomorrow I will spend my morning at DD1’s cricket match and my afternoon at DD2’s football match. This will also involve entertaining my bored 7 year old at both events. I wouldn’t choose to do these things if I didn’t have kids 😂, I’d be lying in, having a lazy morning with a nice brunch, seeing friends, maybe going out for dinner…

Agree! My weekend will be a swimming lesson, a grandparents visit and a trip to the park. There will
be whinging, arguments and tantrums. I wouldn’t choose this for my own entertainment 😅

@WhereHasMyPlanetGone oh absolutely. But I was very naive and looked forward to it (ha!) In the reality of it it’s something else, isn’t it?

It isn’t horrible @GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing , it’s true. I guess the walking thing is no one would enjoy it really lol.

I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself generally at the moment and feeling a bit oh dear god at the thought of the weekend which is a shame really!

Sunday School! Usually, they have really good activities and it’s free (but used to give to the collection). Used to take my grandchildren to Methodist Sunday School- they are very welcoming and it was good fun with age related activities.

I am trying to remember if 5 and 2 was the worst ages or 4 and 1!

Either way - things started getting better when they were 6 & 3. And then 7 & 4 better still.

16 and (nearly) 13 now and I would say that each year has been an improvement in the last. (I like teenagers - they are interesting!)

Are you on your own with them? My main memory of things that helped was “divide and conquer” both with dh and I doing different things with them but also with the time. We would have a plan for Sat am, Sat pm, Sun am & Sun pm which helped a lot.

Building stuff also helped. Mainly train tracks. We were all obsessed with train tracks at one point. And Lego. Lego is awesome. And Orchard toys. Monster catcher is awesome! Technically for age 3+ but ds got the point at 2 as long as we weren’t too fussy with the rules.

Easy baking stuff is another thing that was good fun. Icing biscuits and then letting them loose with decorations. Making little cakes from a really cheap cake mix. And then icing them.

What do you mean they won’t eat a picnic? A picnic can be any food?
Mine won’t eat bread, but I often put Pasta in a kids thermos pot. Fruit in pot. Some cheese. Sorted.

Can you try and invite parents of kids friends over more? So kids have play date and you socialise with an adult? When it’s warm they can all play in garden. We have lots of afternoons like this. Indoors on cold winter dark afternoons, in garden with bbq or coffee and cake in summer. Cheaper also